“I’ll see you later, Gabriel. Let me get back before the commercial’s over. The good part is coming up.”

He chuckled. “Night, Nana.” He loped down the driveway to his car.

“Tell Serenity hello and to let me know when she’s having the next dinner get-together.”

Instead of answering, he threw up a wave. He was the last person Serenity wanted to see.

*  *  *

Two days later, as he sat writing codes, Gabriel still hadn’t come up with a way to approach Serenity. It was the first time in a long while that a woman had invaded his mind during the workday, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He’d contemplated going next door and attempting to smooth things over, but memories of the anger and hurt he’d seen in her eyes had kept him away. The anger he could deal with, but the hurt didn’t sit well with him. Never had he let a situation go this long without a resolution, and he decided that today, one way or another, he was going to deal with it…starting with an apology.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any work done, he shut the program down and leaned back in his chair. Maybe going for a run would clear his head. It always helped to get his creative juices flowing again. However, he had no idea where to go, as he hadn’t taken time to check out the town to see where the parks or trails were located. Gabriel drummed his fingers on the desk. On second thought, he’d head back down to the town’s center. Ice cream from Splendid Scoops is calling my name. The foodie in him was eager to find out if the ice cream lived up to its name.

He found parking on the same street as before and headed in the direction of the shop. The noon hour seemed to be a little more crowded than when he’d come earlier in the week. With all the businesses located within walking distance, he figured it would be far more efficient to grab lunch, pastries, or dessert in the middle of the day, instead of going home. If the restaurants near his office back home had food like what he’d eaten at Ms. Ida’s, he would be there every day. Of course, that also meant he’d have to kick his workout regimen into high gear.

With the mid-June temperatures hovering near eighty degrees, it seemed as though everyone else had the same idea as him. He saw three people enter the ice cream shop as he approached and just as many leave. Serenity and Natasha were among the latter group. When Serenity saw him, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Good afternoon, ladies. I see we all had the same idea.”

“Hi, Gabriel,” Natasha said. “If this is your first time, you’ll be back.”